Letter from Todd Saddler
Dear Friend of Beyond Borders,
My name is Todd Saddler. I live in the United States and serve on
Beyond Borders' board, but I used to be a staff member living in Haiti.
One of my jobs back then was to work with the adult literacy program we
fund on the island of Lagonav. In that capacity I attended a training
seminar for literacy teachers in 1993.
The trainees were divided into small groups and then asked to create
skits on the theme of education. One group was asked to demonstrate the
kind of education they had received as children.
As the class began, the teacher banged the stick on the blackboard to
get the students' attention. The first student was ordered to read a
phrase written in cursive letters in French on the blackboard, which she
did. The next student got halfway through the phrase, then began to
stutter, for which he was punished with a whack from the stick. The
third student pointed out that there was a grammatical error in the
phrase on the board. For this he was insulted, given several whacks,
and chased out of the classroom.
In the discussion that followed, many of the trainees shared stories
from their own school experience that were even worse than the skit.
They concluded that the education they grew up with helped perpetuate
violent and autocratic tendencies in their society.
The next group of trainees demonstrated the kind of education they
would like to be part of: education that could contribute to building a
better society. In their skit, the students and teacher all sat in a
circle, conversing with one another as equals, and learning from one
another. A phrase was written on the blackboard in neat script letters
in Haitian Creole. The teacher invited students to read the phrase.
When one student made a mistake, the teacher praised her for what she
read correctly, but asked the other students if they noticed anything
that might be improved. They eventually came to consensus on the
correct reading. The class ended with an enthusiastic song.
Today, I am happy to say that many of the educators who attended that
adult literacy training session still hold their vision of a better
style of eduction. Not only are they holding onto that vision, but they
are cultivating it, and turning it into a reality in their
schools, churches, and community development activities. It is a vision
of mutual respect, community participation, and nonviolence. It is a
vision of education that is adapted to their culture, reflects the best
values of their society, and takes account of both the needs and
resources of the community.
In fact, two of the educators who were in that room back in 1993 are
Abner Sauveur and Ilven Obèl, founders of the community schools in
Matènwa and Mòn Ramye that are described in this issue of Beyond
Borders' newsletter!
From time to time I am blessed to visit these old friends in Haiti
and to witness the growth of this movement toward particapatory learning
and leadership. My Haitian friends rejoice in being able to do the
hard work of turning their dreams for a better society into reality.
I hope you will agree with me that bringing schools to life in
Haiti--through supporting the work of the different people and programs
you'll read about in this newsletter--is one of the most useful things
we can do with the resources that pass through our hands.
God Bless You,
